( Oct. 12, 2023 ) A pair of first-half goals coupled with dominant defensive play lifted the boys soccer team to a 2-0 win against St. John Paul II last Thursday to earn a season sweep for the Whalers over the Lions this year.
“Good win, I was really happy for them,” coach Rich Brannigan said. “I think we were pretty good in all phases of play. My main emphasis at halftime was being a little more in control and playing at a little quicker speed, especially coming out of the midfield, and we did that a bit more effectively in the second half.”
Calvin Guevara stood out at several points of the game, making a long run from the defensive end to the edge of the box and later scoring the first goal of the game about midway through the first half. Goalie Alex Ivilov sent a clear over midfield and Edin Vasquez corralled the bouncing ball and found Guevara for the goal.
“He finds his spots,” Brannigan said. “Calvin sees the game well and he kind of knows where to be and when to pop up. He sees where maybe there’s a weakness or where we might have numbers up and we have an opportunity to take advantage of a situation. He’s pretty good at that and he had a good game today.”
Elvis Alonzo extended the lead to 2-0 with under two minutes to play in the second half with a goal as the junior continues his strong start to the season.
“It was good to see him get a goal for sure because he does a lot of work for his teammates,” Brannigan said. “The goal he got was Elvis’ pursuit of the ball and being just quicker to it than everybody else in the box.”
“That’s the kind of players we need on the field, guys who are going to react and be first to the ball, especially in the box on the attacking side, but it also shows up on our defensive side.”
“We’re blocking a ton of shots and we are generally getting first to a lot of loose balls and bouncing balls in the box defensively. That is always a good sign because you need to be hungry for the ball and fearless at times and just go find it. We seem to have some players that have the knack for that.”
Ivilov was not called on often in net but made several key saves in the second half to earn the clean sheet.
In Tuesday’s updated MIAA Div. 4 power rankings, Nantucket, now 5-3-3 on the season, dropped five spots to 21st. The top 32 teams automatically qualify for the postseason.
The Whalers are scheduled to travel to Dennis-Yarmouth today before hosting Sturgis West Tuesday and playing at Monomoy next Thursday.
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